Wooden joists are horizontal supporting members that run from wall to wall, wall to beam, or beam to beam to support a ceiling, roof or floor. Wooden joists have a pair of horizontal chords, interrelated by a board in an I-joist configuration, or by V-shaped webs, in an open-joist or truss configuration.
When wooden joists are transversely connected to beams, metal hangers are used to interrelate the joists to the beams. Hangers are brackets that are secured to the beam, and that define a U-shaped so as to support an end of a joist. Hangers are costly items, and require a non-negligible amount of skilled manpower to use.
Some wooden joists are used in a top-chord bearing configuration. In this configuration, the top chord has an extension projecting beyond the bottom chord at an end of the joist. The extension is seated on top of a beam, when the joist is transversely positioned on a beam. As all-wooden joists typically use an adhesive between the chords and the wooden webs/board, all-wooden joists are not used in a top-chord bearing configuration. The top-chord bearing configuration is used with open joists in which the webs are metal, or in open joists in which metal square plates interface the wooden webs to the chords. Both these open joists are relatively expensive as they use numerous metal components.